Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent Read online

He took one lunging step away from the wall and the bomb.

  ‘Three!’ he proclaimed dramatically.

  Max shuffled further down along the Jormungand. He squeezed himself into a curve of the serpent’s body and covered his head.

  ‘Two!’ cried Loki, taking another step.

  Arthur and Ash crawled underneath the altar and ducked down, covering their heads.

  ‘One!’

  Chapter Nineteen

  The bomb blasted a hole outwards in the wall behind Loki. The force of the explosion sent him flying to the ground, laughing maniacally as he went. He turned around just in time to see an enormous wave of water rush through the hole. He scrambled to his feet – the water up to his knees already – and ran towards Max.

  As soon as the dynamite had gone off, Max had dashed to the boat and tried to climb in, but he was far too short to reach the edge. Loki grabbed him by the back of his jacket and picked him up so that their faces were level.

  ‘You’re coming with me, Maxie,’ he sneered. ‘I always thought you’d make a useful hostage!’

  Arthur and Ash, meanwhile, were trapped on top of the altar which they’d mounted after the explosion. The water had nearly reached the top already, making it feel less like an altar and more like a desert island.

  With the strong tide flowing in, the hole in the wall grew larger as the force of the water cracked it further. More and more pieces of rock crumbled and fell as if they’d never been solid to begin with. The water in the cavern was almost in line with the River Liffey through the hole and it kept rising, but more slowly now. The sky was grey outside, as the pale October sun rose and the city slowly started to wake.

  The Jormungand began to stir as Loki pushed Max up onto the serpent’s back. Loki then clambered up himself, positioning himself behind Max against one of the Jormungand’s dorsal fins. The water had risen enough to cover the beast’s mouth. Arthur saw its tail flicker over and past the end of the boat, its claws twitching under the water. The flood washed against the eyes of the Jormungand. And, with that, they shot open.

  Loki and Max had to hold onto the fins tightly as the Jormungand’s massive head lifted off the ground. It opened its mouth – two sabre-toothed fangs were embedded in the top lip while a fork-tipped tongue flicked out, tasting the air. It roared triumphantly, an ear-piercing screech like chalk on a blackboard.

  ‘Ha ha!’ shrieked Loki. ‘It’s alive! It’s alive!’

  ‘Help!’ Max screamed, reaching out towards Ash and Arthur. ‘Ash, help me!’

  ‘Will – I mean, Loki, please,’ Ash begged from their stone island, ‘please let him go.’ She could feel tears running down her cheeks.

  ‘Oh, don’t worry, Ash. We’re going. But you’re staying here. To die.’ He tapped the Jormungand on the head and whispered something they couldn’t understand. His eyes shone green again and he transformed back into his Will-disguise. ‘Arthur, Ash, it was nice knowing you. Well, actually, on second thoughts, it wasn’t really. Bye bye!’

  The serpent shot out through the hole in the wall, Loki and Max clinging on for dear life. As it passed Ash and Arthur, the end of its tail swung out and whacked them, sending them flying towards the entrance they’d come in. They landed in the water with a splash, the breath knocked out of them. The water was now up to their chests and they managed to struggle to their feet just as the Jormungand’s tail flicked out of the cavern. It knocked off some more rock on the way, starting a further avalanche of stones. The whole cavern was now shaking and rocks were falling from the ceiling.

  Arthur looked around at Ash just in time to see the door to the entrance sliding shut. Without another thought, he pushed Ash as hard as he could, sending her toppling back through the gap just before it closed for good.

  ‘Arthur!’ She banged on the other side. ‘Arthur! Get out of there quick! Swim out! There’ll be another cave-in!’

  A huge wave was rushing into the cavern now, caused by the serpent’s rush into the Liffey outside. The water level rose drastically and the wave swept Arthur away from the entrance back towards the Viking longboat. Toppling head over heels in the icy cold water, he was trying to work out which way was up when he spotted the hammer lying on the ground below him. Loki had not liked the hammer and Arthur had an idea that it could be useful in fighting him. He swam down to pick it up.

  It was pure dead weight and the slippery footing underneath wasn’t helping as Arthur tried to push himself up towards the surface. He managed to get the hammer off the ground, clutching it to his chest, but as he looked up towards the surface of the water he saw that a rock the size of a fist had come loose from the ceiling and was falling straight towards him. He was so busy trying to move out of its way, he didn’t even feel it hitting him on the forehead, and all he saw was blackness as he fell unconscious and drifted towards the bottom of the cavern.

  Loki and Max held their breath as the Jormungand dived deep into the River Liffey. Loki knew exactly how the serpent was feeling. After being in captivity for so many hundreds of years, it felt amazing to be free again, swimming rapidly through the water. Max just held on for dear life, his eyes and mouth shut tightly. He didn’t know how to swim and he’d always looked at deep water like this with fear. Now he was really wishing he’d just stayed in bed instead of following the others.

  The World Serpent careened upwards and flew straight out of the water and into the sky. Up, up and up it soared, water dripping off its sleek body back into the river. Their ears popped as they shot even higher. Max squinted out of one eye, saw how high they were and shut it again. The air was thin at this height so he concentrated on breathing instead.

  Loki admired the view. Dublin city. The sun rising in the east over the port and glinting off the expensive glass buildings in the financial district. The older buildings on this side of the city so rich in history, the expansive river below them. He could see a few buses and cars along the quays, some of which ground to a halt as passengers craned their necks to watch the flying serpent, rubbing their eyes as if to wake themselves from a dream. So much to destroy, so much to wipe out. Devastation really was a joyous thing.

  With the lack of quality oxygen Max was feeling light-headed. He couldn’t keep his grip on the fin any more and slipped off the side, screaming. The ground rushed quickly towards him. Suddenly the Jormungand dived back around, catching him as he plummeted. This time Loki held on to Max as they continued flying over the river.

  ‘Hold tight, Maxie,’ he said. ‘We don’t want you to die. Well, not just yet.’

  Ash banged her fist on the stone entrance a few more times before giving up.

  ‘Arthur!’ she shouted in over the rush of the water. ‘I hope you can hear me. I need to go and help Max. I’m sorry. But I’ll come back for you. Or I’ll send someone back. Don’t worry! I just need to save my brother.’ There was no response. ‘Arthur, can you hear me?’ Still no answer. She could only hope that he’d managed to swim out of the cavern in time.

  She looked at her watch. It was just after seven o’clock and the water in the tunnel hadn’t started rising yet. She darted back the way they’d come earlier, passing the warning carvings on the wall. If only we’d listened to those warnings, Ash thought to herself.

  She didn’t want to risk running the whole way back to where they’d come in at the Metro tunnel. Apart from the shortage of time, she was worried that the longer she stayed underground, the higher the chance of drowning would be. When she reached the fork, she took the small tunnel to the left. Eventually she came to the archway they’d escaped through when they’d almost drowned. The grate hadn’t been replaced yet, thankfully. The water in the Liffey wasn’t as high at this point as it had been the last time. There was a good five-foot drop from the tunnel down to the river. She looked out and to the side. A few feet away, an iron ladder was attached to the wall which led up to street level. She put her arm out, trying to reach it, but didn’t come close. A small ledge ran at the height of the tunnel the whole way alo
ng the wall. It barely protruded three inches and was covered in slippery-looking gunk, but Ash knew it was her only option.

  She looked up to her right and saw the black silhouette of the Jormungand soaring against the sky. If she hadn’t known about the terror it would unleash on the world, she would have thought it looked pretty up there. Suddenly a small figure fell off its back, dropping rapidly towards the ground.

  ‘Max!’ she cried in fear.

  As the serpent swooped down and caught Max, she let out a sigh of relief, then steadied herself and stepped out onto the ledge. Her foot slipped almost instantly. She clutched at the wall to stop herself falling, then tried again, forcing all of her weight onto her tiptoes. She faced the wall, clinging to it, and slid along the ledge inch by inch. The black-green gunk on the ledge collected between her feet, making the journey even more treacherous. When she was within reach of the ladder, she grabbed it and her feet lurched straight out from under her. Holding on with all her strength, she scrabbled with her feet until she got them onto the lowest rung and then climbed quickly up to the road.

  Traffic was at a total standstill. Most drivers and passengers had clambered out to witness the strange creature in the sky and were standing in the road, staring upwards and pointing. None of them even noticed her climbing up from the river.

  ‘Get in your cars,’ Ash said to the people nearest her.

  ‘What do you think it is?’ a nearby driver said to his passenger, never taking his eyes off the Jormungand.

  ‘Just get in your cars!’ Ash shouted it this time. ‘All of you! Get in and drive away. It’s dangerous. Go somewhere safe.’

  Everyone standing in the road ignored her. ‘Look,’ said a truck driver, pointing at the serpent. ‘It’s going towards O’Connell Street.’

  O’Connell Street: the busiest street in Dublin. The perfect place for the Jormungand to start its destruction, Ash realised grimly. She left the spectators in the road and ran over the Ha’penny Bridge, turning right and heading towards O’Connell Street as fast as she could go.

  O’Connell Street is the main thoroughfare running through the centre of Dublin. Flanked on either side by tall buildings of historical significance, shops and restaurants, it has a wide pedestrian pavement along the centre. Halfway down this pedestrian island is the Millennium Spire, a four-hundred-foot-tall spike constructed of shiny steel. The monument usually causes tourists to look skyward, but at this time of the morning O’Connell Street was still fairly quiet, with mostly just workers going to their early shifts. A florist’s stall with a canvas roof was setting up for business by the Spire, next to a newspaper vendor. A few taxis and buses were moving up and down each side of the street. Most of the people on the street had lived in Dublin for years and none of them thought to look upwards.

  When Ash turned on to O’Connell Street, the first thing she noticed was the Jormungand wrapped around the top half of the Spire. She could just about make out Loki and Max, still clinging to one of the fins. The serpent seemed to be relaxing, watching the people going about their business, itself going largely unnoticed.

  Ash wondered what it was doing just sitting there but was relieved it hadn’t yet attacked anyone.

  She raced down the street, waving at pedestrians and urging them to get indoors. They looked at her like she was out of her mind but this didn’t put her off.

  ‘Please!’ she begged. ‘Get inside somewhere. It’s dangerous! Look up – look at the Spire!’

  ‘Yeah, whatever,’ one passer-by said cynically.

  ‘No, actually, look,’ said another one who had done what Ash asked. ‘What is that thing?’

  ‘It’s a –’ Ash started. Just then Loki pointed at her from atop the serpent. The Jormungand saw her, then uncoiled from the monument and launched itself towards Ash and the people near her. It screeched its ear-piercing call as it dived through the air.

  Ash and the others turned to the nearest building. It was a large bookshop that hadn’t opened for business for the day yet. Although the glass entrance doors were still locked, the steel shutters were up and they could see staff getting the place ready. By the looks of things they’d just taken in the day’s newspapers and were stacking them on their shelves. Ash and the others outside banged on the doors.

  One staff member looked up from his sweeping and shook his head apologetically. ‘We’re not open yet,’ he said.

  Ash kept pounding. She turned around and saw that the Jormungand had landed on the ground in the middle of the road. It hadn’t taken any notice of the light traffic still moving down the street. The driver of a lorry had no time to swerve: the vehicle crashed into the serpent’s side, sending the beast rolling onto its back. Loki and Max toppled backwards and landed on the tarmac with a thud. Before Max could even think of making an escape, Loki grabbed hold of him again. Meanwhile, the Jormungand was writhing about on its spine, struggling to turn the right way up. Ash turned her attention back to the bookshop.

  ‘Please, please let us in!’ she cried.

  The bookseller kept shaking his head. He walked towards the doors, thinking they couldn’t hear him. ‘I told you already, we’re not –’ Then he saw the Jormungand behind the people outside. It had managed to right itself, but was standing shaking its head, still stunned from the impact of the lorry. The driver – along with several others – had abandoned his vehicle and joined the crowd at the bookshop.

  ‘Hurry up!’ Loki shouted at the serpent from where he stood, with a tight grip on Max. ‘They’re going to get away!’

  The Jormungand finally turned back towards the people on the bookshop steps and roared.

  As the sound echoed around the street, the bookseller swiftly unhooked a large loop of keys from his belt. He fumbled with the key-ring, dropping it to the floor. Ash and the others groaned and she looked over her shoulder at the Jormungand, which was licking its lips in anticipation of the meal to come, as if it was toying with its food. It started moving quickly towards them, unhindered by its tiny legs.

  ‘Come on, come on!’ Ash urged the bookseller. He’d retrieved the loop from the ground and was trying key after key in the lock. Suddenly there was a click. He pulled the doors open triumphantly and everyone piled in, the weight of all the bodies pressing forward sending them crashing to the floor. Quickly the bookseller pulled down the shutters, locked them and then shut the inner doors for extra protection, just as the serpent slammed its head against the steel.

  Ash sat up, catching her breath. She looked around her at the grateful people. They were safe. For the moment at least. But Max was still trapped outside with Loki.

  Arthur came to with a dull throbbing in his forehead and found he was flat on his back staring at the ceiling of the cavern. He touched his hand to the throbbing spot to find a small lump. It stung to the touch although he was thankful to see that there was no blood on his hand when he took it away and held it in front of his eyes.

  Where am I, he wondered to himself. He reached out around him. He was on dry land at least, and as he explored further he realised that he was lying on a wooden floor. With a groan he struggled upright. He quickly saw that he was in the Viking boat, which was now bobbing calmly on the surface of the water in the cavern. What’s more, he was surrounded by the group of dead Viking soldiers. Only they weren’t quite dead any more. They were moving. And one of them was steadily advancing towards him, carrying the strange iron hammer raised in his hands.

  Chapter Twenty

  After a few more futile attempts to break into the bookshop, the Jormungand gave up.

  ‘Save your energy, my child,’ Ash heard Loki shout to the Jormungand. ‘You’ve been asleep for hundreds of years. It would take anyone a while to get their strength back. You’re not restored to your full power yet. When you are, those shutters will be like mere paper to you.’ The terrified people in the shop breathed a sigh of relief as they heard the beast walk away, its claws scratching the pavement.

  ‘Is there anywhere we can see out
?’ someone asked the staff member who’d opened the door for them.

  ‘The windows on the third floor are quite large,’ he said. ‘You’ll get a good view of the whole street up there.’ The people who’d been outside and most of the staff members took off, running up the steps of the escalator, which had not been started yet, two at a time. Ash looked at their saviour. He was in his early twenties with three piercings in each ear.

  ‘Thanks for letting everyone in,’ Ash said, ‘but you have to let me back out now.’

  ‘What? Are you crazy?’

  ‘No. You just have to let me out.’ She thought of Max. ‘My brother’s out there. Please. Open the shutters.’

  ‘No way. I don’t care if it sounds like it’s gone. That thing could get in here and kill us all. Or if you go out, it could kill you. There’s no way I’m letting a kid like you go out into the street to face that thing! Why don’t you come upstairs? At least that way you can see what’s going on.’

  Ash thought about it for a moment, but quickly realised that just as Max was trapped outside, she was trapped in the shop. She knew from his tone of voice there was no convincing the bookseller to let her out and, since he was much bigger than her, there was no way she could force him to open the door. As much as Arthur had been trapped in the cavern, she was trapped in here. Worried and frustrated, she conceded and followed him upstairs.

  ‘What is that thing anyway?’ he asked on the way up.

  ‘You don’t want to know,’ she replied grimly.

  When the serpent, Loki and Max got back to the Spire, the Jormungand slumped to the ground with a raspy sigh. Loki rubbed the side of its face lovingly.

  ‘Aw,’ he said, ‘are you tired from banging your head on that door? Poor Jormungand. You know, you may be my largest child, you may be my oldest child, but you’re certainly not my smartest.’ The serpent seemed oblivious to the insult. It was watching the people still on the street. They were running away in all directions, screaming and yelling, heading for any shelter they could find. If the Jormungand had had more energy he would have devoured all of them in one swift flight. But his father was right: best to conserve what energy he had for the moment.